Cocoon cooking liquid for amber silkworm cocoons and silk reeling method for amber silkworm cocoons
By treating amber cocoons with a cocoon cooking solution made of potassium carbonate and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, combined with steaming and degumming steps, the problems of low detangling efficiency and severe silk damage in the traditional reeling method of amber cocoons were solved, and an efficient and low-cost reeling process was realized.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202511011726.X
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-07-22
- Publication Date
- 2025-10-10
AI Technical Summary
The traditional reeling method for amber silk cocoons has low reeling efficiency, severely damages the mechanical properties of the silk, and makes it difficult to retain the natural color. The existing methods take a long time or require harsh conditions, are costly, and are not suitable for large-scale application.
The cocoon cooking liquid prepared from potassium carbonate and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is steamed and degummed at appropriate temperature and time to partially degumming and desalting the cocoons, thus preserving the color of the cocoons and improving the degumming efficiency.
Partial degumming and desalting of amber silkworm cocoon sericin was achieved under mild conditions, which reduced the damage to the mechanical properties of the silk cocoon, improved the degumming efficiency, reduced the number of thread falls, simplified the process flow and reduced costs.
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Figure CN120758981A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of silk making in sericulture, and in particular relates to a cocoon cooking liquid for amber silkworm cocoons and a method for reeling silk from amber silkworm cocoons. Background Art
[0002] Amber silkworm ( Antheraea assama Amber silk, belonging to the genus Antheraea of the family Bombycidae in the order Lepidoptera, is a polymorphous, holometabolous silk-spinning insect. Its cocoons are naturally golden yellow, lustrous, tough, UV-resistant, and resistant to fading, with excellent mechanical and hygroscopic properties. Amber silk can be easily blended and woven with other fibers such as cashmere, cotton, domestic silk, and other non-domestic silks. Due to its durability, dye-free nature, and hygroscopic properties, amber silk is also widely used in home furnishing fabrics. Amber silk also possesses high tensile strength, elasticity, thermal stability, tunable degradability, and biocompatibility, making it suitable for use in implantable biomaterials, drug delivery vehicles, and medical sutures. Furthermore, the moisturizing, antioxidant, and anti-cancer activities of amber silk sericin and secondary metabolites in its cocoons also hold significant potential for development and utilization. Therefore, as a valuable and unique wild silkworm resource, research on its reeling methods is necessary to lay the foundation for the development and utilization of silk products.
[0003] Amber silkworm cocoons have an irregular shape, low sericin content, and often have leaf marks on their surface. Calcium oxalate crystals adhere to the silk fibers, making them difficult to reel simply by swelling the sericin, as with domesticated silkworm cocoons. Excessively harsh cocoon cooking conditions damage the silk fiber structure, affecting the mechanical properties and feel of the silk, and failing to preserve its natural color. Traditionally, amber silkworm cocoons are reeled using a soap-soda (sodium carbonate) aqueous solution. This method is inefficient in degumming and often results in breakage during the reeling process. Numerous other methods exist for either degumming or desalting, or a combination of both, including physical methods (ultrasound) and chemical methods (acids, alkalis, enzymes, etc.). However, these methods often require lengthy processing times, harsh conditions, or are complex and expensive, hindering widespread application in production. Summary of the Invention
[0004] In response to the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a cocoon cooking liquid for amber silkworm cocoons. By compounding potassium carbonate and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, the cocoon sericin is partially degummed and partially desalted after swelling, thereby improving the degumming efficiency while retaining the natural color of the cocoon silk.
[0005] The invention provides a cocoon cooking liquid for amber silkworm cocoons, which is an aqueous solution containing 0.1% to 0.3% by weight of potassium carbonate and 0.1% to 0.3% by weight of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
[0006] Preferably, the aqueous solution comprises 0.2% potassium carbonate and 0.2% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid by mass percentage.
[0007] The application provides application of the boiling solution of the amber cocoon in silk reeling of the amber cocoon.
[0008] The application provides a silk reeling method of an amber cocoon, which comprises the following steps: The water-soaked amber cocoon is steamed to obtain steamed amber cocoon; The steamed amber cocoon is placed in the boiling solution to degum, and degummed amber cocoon is obtained; The degummed amber cocoon is reeled on a reeling machine.
[0009] Preferably, the degumming temperature is 90-100 DEG C, and the degumming time is 6-10 min. The degumming mode comprises boiling.
[0010] Preferably, the water bath temperature of the steaming is 90-100 DEG C, and the steaming time is 40-60 min.
[0011] Preferably, before reeling on the reeling machine, the degummed amber cocoon is subjected to washing treatment to remove the boiling solution residue.
[0012] Preferably, during the whole reeling process on the reeling machine, the degummed amber cocoon is placed in hot water, and the temperature of the hot water is 50-70 DEG C.
[0013] Preferably, before reeling on the reeling machine, the degummed amber cocoon is removed of outer cocoon silk.
[0014] Preferably, the reeling method on the reeling machine is that the amber cocoon is removed of outer cocoon silk, the cocoon silk is connected with the reeling guide wire by knotting, and the cocoon silk is wound and drawn. Beneficial effects
[0015] The application provides a boiling solution of an amber cocoon, which is an aqueous solution comprising 0.1%-0.3% potassium carbonate by mass percentage and 0.1%-0.3% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid by mass percentage. The boiling solution is prepared by compounding potassium carbonate and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid with appropriate concentrations, which is beneficial to partial degumming and partial desalination of the swollen silk gum of the amber cocoon. Compared with the traditional method, the degumming condition is relatively mild, the mechanical property damage of the silk fiber is relatively small, the color of the cocoon silk is retained to a large extent, and the quality of the cocoon silk of the amber cocoon is improved.
[0016] The present invention provides a method for reeling silk from amber silkworm cocoons. The method involves steaming water-soaked amber silkworm cocoons, degumming the cocoons in the cocoon cooking liquid described in the above technical solution, and then reeling the degummed amber silkworm cocoons. Treating the amber silkworm cocoons with the cocoon cooking liquid reduces mechanical damage to the silk fibers during the degumming process while maximally preserving the color of the silk. Furthermore, the method removes the outer, difficult-to-reel cocoon layer by swelling sericin, making it easier to reel the silk, improving the unwinding process, and reducing the number of thread drops, thereby improving work efficiency. The method is simple, easy to operate, and saves process costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] Figure 1 The present invention is a flow chart of the amber cocoon reeling method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The invention provides a cocoon cooking liquid for amber silkworm cocoons, which is an aqueous solution containing 0.1% to 0.3% by weight of potassium carbonate and 0.1% to 0.3% by weight of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
[0019] In the present invention, the cocoon cooking liquor is an aqueous solution containing 0.2% potassium carbonate and 0.2% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) by weight. The potassium carbonate, as a strong base and weak acid salt, regulates the pH and promotes the dissolution of sericin. It also helps decompose hydrophobic components such as wax and oil on the cocoon surface, improving the cleanliness of silk fibers and inhibiting sericin redeposition caused by calcium and magnesium ions in the cocoon cooking liquor. By optimizing the potassium carbonate concentration to achieve an appropriate working concentration, the present invention prevents excessive sericin dissolution and reduced silk fiber strength caused by excessive concentrations, while also preventing incomplete sericin dissolution and reduced reeling efficiency caused by low concentrations. The EDTA acts as a surfactant, further promoting sericin dissolution.
[0020] In the present invention, the water in the aqueous solution is preferably distilled water, deionized water, etc., to prevent calcium and magnesium ions in the water from interfering with the dissolution process of sericin.
[0021] The present invention provides application of the amber cocoon cooking liquid in amber cocoon reeling.
[0022] The present invention provides a method for reeling silk from amber silkworm cocoons, comprising the following steps: Steaming the soaked amber cocoons to obtain steamed amber cocoons; placing the steamed amber cocoons in the cocoon cooking liquid for degumming to obtain degummed amber cocoons; The degummed amber cocoons are put on a reeling machine for silk.
[0023] The invention steams amber silk cocoons soaked in water to obtain steamed amber silk cocoons.
[0024] In the present application, the amber silkworm cocoons preferably include fresh silkworm cocoons and / or dried cocoons. The preparation method of the dried cocoons preferably includes the following steps: cutting off cocoon stems after screening fresh silkworm cocoons, treating at 90°C for 4 hours, and then treating at 60°C for 6 hours to dry the silkworm cocoons.
[0025] In the present application, the amber silkworm cocoons are preferably screened amber silkworm cocoons. The screening method is to remove bad cocoons. The bad cocoons include the following cases: bad cocoons caused by biological factors, abnormal cocooning cocoons, and environment or human damage cocoons. The bad cocoons caused by biological factors include dead cage cocoons, pupa cocoons, and fly cocoons. The abnormal cocooning cocoons include thin skin cocoons, multi-layer cocoons, and abnormal cocoons. The environment or human damage cocoons include contaminated cocoons, moldy cocoons, and over-dried cocoons.
[0026] In the present application, the preparation method of the water-soaked amber silkworm cocoons preferably includes the following steps: immersing the screened amber silkworm cocoons in water after cutting off cocoon stems, excluding air, and allowing the water to completely soak the amber silkworm cocoons. The immersion time is preferably 10-60 minutes, and more preferably 20-30 minutes. The water-soaked amber silkworm cocoons are beneficial to the penetration of water vapor into the amber silkworm cocoons during subsequent steaming, and the steaming is sufficient.
[0027] In the present application, the water bath temperature of the steaming is preferably 90-100°C, and more preferably 93-98°C, and can also be 95°C. The steaming time is preferably 40-60 minutes, can be 45-55 minutes, and can be 50 minutes. The steaming is beneficial to the softening of the sericin of the amber silkworm cocoons, so as to improve the degumming effect.
[0028] After obtaining the steamed amber silkworm cocoons, the present application places the steamed amber silkworm cocoons in the cocoon boiling liquid for degumming, to obtain degummed amber silkworm cocoons.
[0029] In the present application, the degumming temperature is preferably 90-100°C, can be 92-98°C, and can be 95°C. The degumming time is preferably 6-10 minutes, can be 7-9 minutes, and can be 8 minutes. The degumming method preferably includes boiling. The effects of boiling silkworm cocoons include softening sericin. Since silkworm silk is composed of fibroin (fiber main body) and sericin (outer layer of adhesive protein), hot water (or alkaline solution) can dissolve part of the sericin, so that the silk fibers are separated, which is convenient for reeling; in addition, it is beneficial to clean impurities, remove natural secretions such as waxes and greases on the surface of the silkworm cocoons; furthermore, it is also beneficial to sterilization and disinfection, high temperature can kill the residual microorganisms of silkworm pupae, and improve the quality of silkworm silk.
[0030] After obtaining the degummed amber silkworm cocoons, the present application reels the degummed amber silkworm cocoons.
[0031] In the present invention, before reeling, the degummed amber cocoons are preferably washed to remove residual cocoon cooking liquid. The washing solution is preferably water. The number of washes is preferably 3 to 5, and may be 4.
[0032] In the present invention, before reeling, the outer layer of the degummed amber cocoons is preferably removed to ensure the overall quality of the silk. During the entire reeling process, the degummed amber cocoons are preferably placed in hot water at a temperature of 50-70°C, preferably 60°C.
[0033] In the present invention, the method for reeling silk on a reeling machine preferably involves removing the outer layer of amber cocoon threads, knotting the cocoon threads to the reeling wire, and then winding and drawing the silk. The threading is a key step in the reeling process, involving finding and extracting the silk ends (i.e., the starting ends of the silk threads) from the degummed cocoons. This is done to prepare for subsequent continuous reeling and ensure that the silk threads can be smoothly wound onto the reeling frame.
[0034] The following is a detailed description of the amber cocoon cooking liquid and the amber cocoon reeling method provided by the present invention in conjunction with the embodiments, but they should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0035] Example 1: This embodiment takes the reeling of amber silkworm cocoon as an example, and the method includes the following steps: Remove the damaged cocoons from the amber cocoons, cut off the cocoon stems, and dry the cocoons at 93°C for 4 hours and then at 62°C for 6 hours. Place the dried cocoons in clean water and gently squeeze them to squeeze out the air.
[0036] After being soaked in clean water, the silk cocoons are placed in a pot of boiling water and steamed for 60 minutes.
[0037] The steamed cocoons are immersed in boiling cocoon cooking liquid, which is an aqueous solution containing 0.3% potassium carbonate and 0.3% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 4 minutes.
[0038] After cooking, the amber cocoons are rinsed with clean water several times to wash away the remaining cooking liquid, and then placed in 70℃ hot water. The outer layer of cocoon silk is torn off along the cut edge of the cocoon handle, and the cocoon silk is tied and connected with the reeling wire, and then wound and drawn.
[0039] Example 2: Taking the reeling of amber silkworm cocoon as an example, the method includes the following steps: Remove the damaged cocoons from the amber cocoons, cut off the cocoon stems, and dry them at 87°C for 4 hours, then at 55°C for 6 hours. Place the dried cocoons in clean water and gently squeeze them to squeeze out the air.
[0040] After being soaked in clean water, the silk cocoons are placed in a pot of boiling water and steamed for 50 minutes.
[0041] The steamed cocoons are immersed in boiling cocoon cooking liquid, which is an aqueous solution containing 0.2% potassium carbonate and 0.2% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 8 minutes.
[0042] After cooking, the amber cocoons are rinsed with clean water several times to wash away the remaining cocoon cooking liquid, and then placed in 60℃ hot water. The outer layer of cocoon silk is torn off along the cut edge of the cocoon handle, and the cocoon silk is tied and connected with the reeling wire, and then wound and drawn.
[0043] Example 3: Taking the reeling of amber silkworm cocoon as an example, the method includes the following steps: Remove the damaged cocoons from the amber cocoons, cut off the cocoon stems, and dry the cocoons at 90°C for 4 hours and then at 60°C for 6 hours. Place the dried cocoons in clean water and gently squeeze them to squeeze out the air.
[0044] After being soaked in clean water, the silk cocoons are placed in a pot of boiling water and steamed for 70 minutes.
[0045] The steamed cocoons are immersed in boiling cocoon cooking liquid, which is an aqueous solution containing 0.1% potassium carbonate and 0.1% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 25 minutes.
[0046] After cooking, the amber cocoons are rinsed with clean water several times to wash away the remaining cooking liquid, and then placed in 55℃ hot water. The outer layer of cocoon silk is torn off along the cut edge of the cocoon handle, and the cocoon silk is tied and connected with the reeling wire, and then wound and drawn.
[0047] Example 4: Taking the reeling of a single fresh amber silkworm cocoon as an example, the method comprises the following steps: Remove the damaged cocoons from the amber cocoons and cut off the cocoon stems. Place the cocoons in clean water and gently squeeze them to squeeze out the air.
[0048] After being soaked in clean water, the silk cocoons are placed in a pot of boiling water and steamed for 60 minutes.
[0049] The steamed cocoons were immersed in boiling cocoon cooking liquid, which was an aqueous solution containing 0.2% potassium carbonate and 0.2% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 8 minutes.
[0050] After cooking, the amber cocoons are rinsed with clean water several times to wash away the remaining cocoon cooking liquid, and then placed in 60℃ hot water. The outer layer of cocoon silk is torn off along the cut edge of the cocoon handle, and the cocoon silk is tied and connected with the reeling wire, and then wound and drawn.
[0051] Example 5: Taking the reeling of a single fresh amber silkworm cocoon as an example, the method comprises the following steps: Remove the damaged cocoons from the amber cocoons and cut off the cocoon stems. Place the cocoons in clean water and gently squeeze them to squeeze out the air.
[0052] The cocoon soaked in water is put into a boiling water pot and steamed for 40 minutes.
[0053] The steamed cocoon is immersed into boiling cocoon cooking solution, which is an aqueous solution containing 0.25% potassium carbonate and 0.25% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 7 minutes.
[0054] The cooked amber cocoon is rinsed several times with clean water to remove the residual cocoon cooking solution, put into 50℃ hot water, the outer cocoon silk is torn along the cut opening of the cocoon handle, the cocoon silk is connected with the reeling guide wire by knotting, and the silk is wound and drawn.
[0055] Example 6: Taking the single cocoon reeling of fresh amber cocoon as an example, the method comprises the following steps: The bad cocoon in the amber cocoon is removed, and the cocoon handle is cut off. The cocoon is put into clean water, and the air in the cocoon is squeezed out by gently kneading the cocoon.
[0056] The cocoon soaked in water is put into a boiling water pot and steamed for 50 minutes.
[0057] The steamed cocoon is immersed into boiling cocoon cooking solution, which is an aqueous solution containing 0.15% potassium carbonate and 0.15% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 12 minutes.
[0058] The cooked amber cocoon is rinsed several times with clean water to remove the residual cocoon cooking solution, put into 50℃ hot water, the outer cocoon silk is torn along the cut opening of the cocoon handle, the cocoon silk is connected with the reeling guide wire by knotting, and the silk is wound and drawn.
[0059] Comparative Example 1: Taking the single cocoon reeling of dry amber cocoon as an example, the reeling method is explained, wherein the only difference from Example 2 is that the cocoon cooking solution is replaced by an aqueous solution containing 0.5% potassium carbonate and 0.5% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 4 minutes, and the other steps are the same.
[0060] Comparative Example 2: Taking the single cocoon reeling of dry amber cocoon as an example, the reeling method is explained, wherein the only difference from Example 2 is that the cocoon cooking solution is replaced by an aqueous solution containing 0.08% potassium carbonate and 0.08% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and boiled for 27 minutes, and the other steps are the same.
[0061] Comparative Example 3: Taking the single cocoon reeling of dry amber cocoon as an example, the reeling method is explained, wherein the only difference from Example 2 is that the boiling time is replaced by 15 minutes, and the other steps are the same.
[0062] Comparative Example 4: Taking the reeling of a single dried amber silkworm cocoon as an example, the reeling method is described. The only difference from Example 2 is that the boiling time is replaced with 5 minutes, and the other steps are the same.
[0063] Example 7: The reeling processes of Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were observed, and the relaxation rate was calculated according to Formula 1: Relaxation rate (%) = (relaxed silk length (m)) / (cocoon silk length (m)) × 100% Formula I; Unraveling silk length (m) = (cocoon silk length (m)) / (1 + number of falling threads) The cocoon layer reeling rate was calculated according to formula II.
[0064] Cocoon layer reeling rate (%) = (reeled silk amount (g)) / (cocoon layer amount (g)) × 100% Formula II.
[0065] Table 1 Silk reeling results with different treatment processes
[0066] Note: - indicates that it is difficult to trace and the data is not counted.
[0067] From the results of the above examples, it can be seen that the relaxation rate of the traditional alkaline reeling method (Comparative Example 1) is 12.2%, while the average cocoon layer reeling rate of the present invention is 46.92%~48.56%, the average length of the relaxed silk is 90.3 meters, and the relaxation rate is 25.98%~26.5%.
[0068] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as within the scope of protection of the present invention.
Claims
1. A cocoon cooking liquid for amber silkworm cocoons, characterized in that: It is an aqueous solution containing 0.1% to 0.3% by mass of potassium carbonate and 0.1% to 0.3% by mass of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
2. The amber cocoon cooking liquid according to claim 1, characterized in that: It is an aqueous solution containing 0.2% potassium carbonate and 0.2% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid by mass.
3. Use of the amber cocoon cooking liquid according to claim 1 in amber cocoon reeling.
4. A method for reeling silk from amber silkworm cocoons, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Steaming the soaked amber cocoons to obtain steamed amber cocoons; placing the steamed amber cocoons in the cocoon cooking liquid according to claim 1 or 2 for degumming to obtain degummed amber cocoons; The degummed amber cocoons are put on a reeling machine for silk.
5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The degumming temperature is 90-100°C; the degumming time is 6-10 minutes; The degumming method includes cooking.
6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The steaming water bath temperature is 90-100° C.; the steaming time is 40-60 min.
7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that: Before being put on the reeling machine, the degummed amber cocoons are washed to remove the residual cocoon cooking liquid.
8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that: During the entire process of reeling, the degummed amber cocoons are placed in hot water with a temperature of 50-70°C.
9. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that: Before the silk reeling machine is used, the outer layer of the degummed amber cocoons is removed.
10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The method for reeling silk on a machine comprises the following steps: removing the amber cocoon threads of the outer cocoon silk, tying the cocoon silk and the reeling wire into a knot, and then winding and drawing the silk.